I’m not in any way, shape, or form an engineer so I don’t really understand the exact details of your post.

However, you post reminded me of a really good episode of a podcast called Hidden Brain. In it the host, discusses the topic of knowledge with a cognitive scientist.

At one point, they talk about how sophisticated technology has gotten that people don’t know how to solve problems if that technology brakes, especially since technology is getting so good that it makes fewer mistakes. They use an airplane as an example in which an experienced pilot forgot how to get out of a nosedive and crashed the plane. On a smaller scale, the host mentioned that he has a hard time navigating if his phone’s GPS doesn’t work.

Its a really interesting listen if you have the chance.

Thanks for the tip. I had thought of doing Home Assistant to automate things like lights but I use the Echo for other stuff too (like reminders and weather). I guess I’ll just wait for the open source tech to catch up.

How disheartening. I knew going in that there would be privacy issues but I figured for the service it was fine. I also figure my phone is always listening anyway.

As someone with limited mobility, my echo has been really nice to control my smart devices like lights and TV with just my voice.

Are there good alternatives or should I just accept things as they are?